Where She Got Her Wings
by Annjirika
Summary: Hoping to find his lost friends after Kingdom Hearts, Riku accompanies Sora to Spira. Instead, he finds the Gullwings. [RikuxYuna...ish]


_A/N: This could possibly have RikuXYuna undertones. Nothing heavy, nothing hardcore, nothing serious. I just ask that if there IS a bit of Riku crushing on Yuna, that you keep an open mind and don't instantly decide to launch a full out attack on the evils of slash. _

_Because slash can be fun._

And yeah, so they don't meet in the game. Yuna will be in KH2 after all, there's always that chance. Heh… 

_z-z-z-z-z-z_

"What do we do Sora?" Riku absently brushed a strand of gray hair from his face, looking uneasily at the small monster. At first glance, the pair had thought the miniature mobile cactus was harmless. As Sora had gone up to inspect it, it let loose a high pitched chatter and fired needles from its head.

Definitely not harmless.

Now the warriors stood, bemused by the creature that faced them so peacefully yet so malevolently. "Is…is it a heartless?" Sora whispered, cocking his head to the side.

"No," Riku replied. He was sure not only because the monster didn't have a heartless symbol on its chest, but also because he had once held the power to control the heartless. It was a power that had faded away over time but still had its lingering effects. He could sense the heartless. "But it's definitely bad."

As soon as he said this, the cactus-creature shrieked agitatedly and shot another round of needles, this time in Riku's direction. He narrowly dodged the ambush, escaping with only one needle embedded deeply in his arm. He swore lightly, pulling the sharp, thin object from his flesh. He cringed as he felt something warm flow through his arm. Poison? 

"Riku? Are you hurt?" Sora asked, eyeing the cactus as it shrieked again.

"I'm fine," Riku snapped, noticing Sora had called his Keyblade. "Just _kill_ it."

Sora rushed forward, his weapon readied. The metal barely nicked its green flesh, only succeeding to anger it more. It let out a low chirp. A bright light appeared and washed over the cactus. Its jerky movements sped up. "What happened?" Sora asked, trying once again to attack the foe. It jumped out of the way. Sora's key hit the sand.

Riku called his own keyblades, beginning to feel light-headed. Either the poison was working, or the heat of the desert was getting to him. He hoped it was the heat. "Some sort of spell." Riku replied, sizing up his opponent. The needle attack came again, this time a few of them hitting Sora in his side. He groaned, glaring at the monster as he pulled them out. Riku lunged forward and brought down his blades, missing the monster by a second. "It's too fast!"

"Understatement much?" A light voice spoke up behind them. Both boys turned at the sound. The voice belonged to a short, underdressed, blonde girl. Two other women accompanied her.

"Uh…huh?" Sora blinked.

"They've been affected by the poison." The silver-haired woman with red eyes looked at a petite brunette beside her. "Yuna? What now?"

Yuna looked at the boys. The cactus let out a cry. "Hurry, get out of the way!" She cried, pulling out one of two pistols. She fired two rounds at the monster, distracting it long enough to allow the blonde to get behind it. Riku pulled the semi-stupefied Sora out of harms way, feeling a bit hazy himself.

"Berserk!" Rikku cried, the spell unfamiliar to Riku. A light sprang from the girl's palm and hit the beast between its beady eyes. It squealed in pain. "Now Yunie!"

Yuna reacted quickly and fired two more rounds into its body. "Paine!" The silver-haired woman lifted her heavy-looking sword and drove it into the confused creature's head.

"See ya later!" The blonde giggled.

Out of the corner of Riku's eye, he saw Sora flinch and for a moment he envied the boy's innocence. The monster fell over after a few seconds of stunned silence, hitting the sand with a soft thud. Yuna sighed in relief, letting her gun rest at her side as she walked over to the dead body. It slowly disintegrated into small, white orbs.

"What _was_ that thing?" Sora's voice was slightly slurred.

"That," Paine said, shouldering her weapon. "Was a fiend. A cactuar."

"Yeah, but not _all_ cactuar's are like that! That one was just corrupted." The young blonde flounced over, her braids bouncing all over her head. "Hiya! I'm Rikku!"

Sora snorted. "Cool! You guys have the same name!" He grinned at Riku.

Riku, who had been hit with a much less intense dose of the cactuar's poison, shook his head slightly. "Yeah. I'm Riku…too."

"Rikku two! That's terrific! Did ya hear that Yunie? We have the same name!"

Yuna approached, smiling softly. "So I heard." Her voice was as gentle as her smile. Riku noticed she had one blue eye and one green eye, a rarity. He let his keyblades disappear. "I'm Yuna."

"I don't think we should do introductions just yet. Rikku, why don't you run ahead and tell Nhadala we're bringing in these guys. Be careful." Paine said. Rikku nodded, flashed a grin at the boys, and ran off.

"Is it okay if I sit down…jus for a secon…" Sora muttered, already sinking toward the sand.

Riku glanced at him. "Is he okay?" He asked quietly, worried for his own sake as well. 

"I'm out of remedies." Paine frowned at him. "There's nothing I can do until we get to Camp."

"Think I could cast Esuna?" Yuna asked, cocking her head to the side as she examined Sora.

"You can try." Paine stepped back.

"Wait, hold on. Esuna?" Riku held up his hands. But it was too late. Yuna had closed her eyes, apparently deep in concentration. A soft, white light began to twist its way around her slender frame, bringing soft-looking feathers with it. Her shorts and pasty shirt seemed to fade, which made Riku slightly nervous, and a white, hooded robe fell into place. It was lined with red and purple, and beneath it she wore white pants and white boots.

She lifted a staff that had just happened and some of the light drifted to Sora. It surrounded him for a second, just as it had her, before fading. She did the same for Riku and then opened her eyes, the gentle smile back in place. "How's that?" She asked.

Riku had to admit, his mind didn't feel quite as foggy as it had. Even Sora seemed more alert. Before anyone had time to say anything else, the ground shook beneath them as a large machine came rumbling over the sand.

"Hiya!" Rikku waved from the edge of it, smiling broadly. Riku resigned to let them take them to this Camp. Maybe it would take them closer to what they were looking for.

_z-z-z-z-z_

_To Be Continued…as soon as I get back from vacation. _


End file.
